WASHINGTON -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Former Vice President Dick Cheney on Sunday defended the Bush administration 's economic record , the invasion of Iraq and the treatment of suspected terrorists , warning that reversing its anti-terrorism policies endangers Americans .

`` We 've accomplished nearly everything we set out to do , '' ex-Vice President Dick Cheney says Sunday about Iraq .

In a wide-ranging interview with CNN 's `` State of the Union , '' Cheney said the harsh interrogations of suspects and the use of warrantless electronic surveillance were `` absolutely essential '' to get information to prevent more attacks like the 2001 suicide hijackings that targeted New York and Washington .

`` President Obama campaigned against it all across the country , and now he is making some choices that , in my mind , will , in fact , raise the risk to the American people of another attack , '' he said .

Critics said the Bush administration 's `` alternative '' interrogation techniques amounted to the torture of prisoners in American custody , while the administration 's warrantless surveillance program violated federal laws enacted after the Watergate scandal .

Since taking office in January , Obama has announced plans to close the U.S. prison camp at Guantanamo Bay , Cuba , to halt the military trials of suspected terrorists there , and to make CIA officers follow the Army field manual 's rules on interrogations . Cheney said the administration appears to be returning to the pre-2001 model of treating terrorism as a law enforcement issue , rather than a military problem .

`` When you go back to the law enforcement mode , which I sense is what they 're doing , closing Guantanamo and so forth ... they are very much giving up that center of attention and focus that 's required , that concept of military threat that is essential if you 're going to successfully defend the nation against further attacks , '' he said .

But Rep. Joe Sestak , D-Pennsylvania , said the Bush administration 's policies undercut `` what is actually the source of America 's greatness -- our principles . ''

`` How can we say that keeping a man in a black hole forever -- perpetually in a black hole -- and saying , ` Let 's torture when we decide to , ' is what America stands for ? '' asked Sestak , a former admiral who led the Navy 's anti-terrorism efforts .

The Bush administration took office at the end of an economic boom and left in the middle of a deep recession , with a budget surplus in 2001 becoming a $ 1 trillion-plus deficit by 2009 . But Cheney said he and Bush had to spend money to deal with the September 11 , 2001 attacks , the resulting war in Afghanistan , the disaster of 2005 's Hurricane Katrina , and the costly and unpopular war in Iraq , now nearly six years old .

`` All of these things required us to spend money that we had not originally planned to spend , or were n't originally part of the budget , '' Cheney said . `` Stuff happens . And the administration has to be able to respond to that , and we did . ''

Obama has begun to wind down the war in Iraq , which has cost more than 4,200 American lives and nearly $ 700 billion in direct costs . But Cheney said the United States has `` accomplished nearly everything we set out to do '' in Iraq , including establishing a democratic government in the Middle East .

Cheney was one of the administration 's leading advocates of the 2003 invasion of Iraq , pressing the Bush administration 's argument that Iraq was concealing weapons of mass destruction and could provide those weapons to terrorists . None of those weapons were found after the invasion , but Cheney said , `` We 've eliminated that possibility . ''

In 2005 , Cheney said the raging insurgency against U.S. troops was in its `` last throes . '' Nearly two years later , a commitment of more than 30,000 additional American troops and a widespread effort to pay former insurgents to turn against Islamic militants helped quell the worst of the violence .

`` I do n't hear much talk about that , but the fact is , the violence level is down 90 percent , '' Cheney said . `` The number of casualties -LSB- among -RSB- Iraqis and Americans is significantly diminished . There 's been elections , a constitution . They 're about to have another presidential election here in the near future . We have succeeded in creating in the heart of the Middle East a democratically governed Iraq , and that is a big deal , and it is , in fact , what we set out to do . ''

But Sestak said the administration was too slow to react to the problems it faced in Iraq and let the conflict overshadow the `` whole fabric '' of U.S. national security .

`` The cost of this war is something that I strongly believe has far , far hurt us , '' he said . `` We 're going to recover , because we 're Americans . But Iraq was just one piece of our security , and this administration failed to realize that . ''

Though considered one of the administration 's most influential figures , Cheney said President Bush rebuffed his advice on at least two issues . Watch Cheney tout Bush administration ''

He said Bush left former Cheney aide Lewis `` Scooter '' Libby `` sort of hanging in the wind '' by refusing to issue Libby a pardon before leaving office . Libby was convicted of perjury , obstruction of justice , and lying to federal agents investigating the leak of a former CIA officer 's identity .

`` I believe firmly that Scooter was unjustly accused and prosecuted and deserved a pardon , and the president disagreed with that , '' Cheney said . He would disclose no details of his efforts to lobby the president on Libby 's behalf , saying they would be `` best left to history . ''

And Cheney said he argued against the administration 's policy on North Korea , which tested a nuclear weapon in 2006 . The Bush administration reached a still-incomplete disarmament deal with the isolated Stalinist state in 2007 and removed it from the U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism as part of the deal .

`` I had my say , '' Cheney told CNN . `` I got my chance to voice my views and my objections . I did n't think the North Koreans were going to keep their end of the bargain in terms of what they agreed to , and they did n't . ''

The Obama administration has nominated Christopher Hill , the State Department official who was the top U.S. negotiator with North Korea , to be the U.S. ambassador to Iraq . Cheney said Hill lacks the Middle East experience that his predecessors have , and `` I did not support the work that Chris Hill did with respect to North Korea . ''

`` I think it 's a choice that I would n't have made , '' he said .

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NEW : Cheney : Harsh interrogations , warrantless eavesdropping `` essential ''

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NEW : Former vice president says Bush rebuffed his advice on two big issues

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`` An administration has to be able to respond to -LSB- crises -RSB- and we did , '' Cheney said

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Cheney cites costs of dealing with 9/11 attacks , wars in Afghanistan and Iraq